


What Does It Mean To Be Human?

by EvergreenEmerald



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Diary/Journal, F/F, F/M, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Human Papyrus, Human Sans, Human W. D. Gaster, Knights - Freeform, M/M, Magic-Users, Multi, Other, Past, Post-War, W. D. Gaster is not related to Skelebros, What if Sans and Papyrus were human, breaking laws of life, hint of romance but not the focus, humans fighting with monsters, some idea i had when i was inspired, well he kind is related to them but isnt their father
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-04 08:23:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10987134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvergreenEmerald/pseuds/EvergreenEmerald
Summary: The surface, finally... monsters are free. It has been a year after they were finally released to the surface. Monsters are slowly being accepted into the human world and the memory of the underground and war are vanishing from everyone's mind as everything becomes easier for the monsters. The gang goes on a school field trip to a museum and Sans is having flashbacks of a past that he had forgotten about, a life that he had before he was Sans the Skeleton.A life that was Sanders Ward.





	1. Skeleton in the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> so this is an idea based off the theory that Sans and Papyrus were human before, i always wanted to do a fic that played around with that idea but never came up with a story for it till i was looking at an au that inspired me on tumblr. the au is huntertale, this story has no really similarities to the au other than sans' weapon of choice. just looking at this au and the art the creator has made is just amazing and inspiring. many of the aus that people have created are just as wonderful, but for some reason this one really got to me. check them out [here](http://huntertale-au.tumblr.com/), they are really nice and their art is just as beautiful as they are!
> 
> i hope you enjoy and if you notice any errors let me know! :D

_“Ah hello, can you tell me who you are? The name on the grave was wiped away; I could only make out the first few letters…”_

_“No? Do you remember anything?”_

_“Oh, well that’s okay… hmm test subject three is the only one to have woken up, further examination may be needed… me? I’m-”_

 

~

 

Sans opened his eye sockets to see sunlight pouring down between the branches of the tree he was sleeping under. He smiled to himself. That’s right, they were on the surface. A gentle warm breeze blew through the trees, lulling him back to sleep. He was almost asleep when he heard someone yelling. “Sans!” He opened his eyes again to see a human in full armor with scruffy blonde hair and a little stubble on his young face. There was a human woman in a hooded cloak who was smiling as the man frowned down at him. “Wake up!”

 

He yelled at him again, causing Sans to jolt and blink rapidly. He rubbed his eye sockets and looked up at the two humans… err… “Papyrus? Frisk?”

 

“GET UP YOU LAZY BONES!” Papyrus lectured Sans as he placed his gloved hands on his hips. “LUNCH IS OVER AND WE ARE GOING INTO THE MUSEUM NOW! SET AN EXAMPLE AS A CHAPERONE!!” Frisk giggled as Papyrus picked up Sans, lugging him over his shoulders.

 

Today, Frisk’s entire grade was going on a field trip to Ebott Museum and they had been short on chaperones. Papyrus kindly volunteered himself and his brother to help out once he’d heard about it from Frisk. Undyne and Gerson were here as well. Gerson had always had a love for history and was curious to find out what the humans had discovered and how they deciphered the meaning behind them.

 

Sans scratched his skull. “Sorry bro… Guess I was just bone-tired.” Papyrus stops. He lifts Sans off his shoulders and holds him in front of him as he glares at his brother. He proceeds to drop him on the ground like he was one of Sans’ dirty socks.

 

“YOU CAN STAY HERE FOREVER. DON’T EVEN BOTHER TRYING TO GET BACK ON THE SCHOOL BUS WITH US.” Papyrus huffed as all the kids giggled at the skeleton brothers’ exchange.

 

“Okay let’s go inside the museum punks, lets learn about how humans fought those giant robots!” Undyne shouted with excitement. Someone should really tell her that anime isn’t real…

 

~

 

“And here is the war artifact room.” The tour guide leads the children into a new room as they all look up to admire everything with “ooh”s and “ah”s.

 

“We don’t know very much about what took place here. We found hundreds of suits of armor and weapons around the base of the mountain but no written records of when it happened, who was fighting, and why… till a year ago when the monsters emerged from the mountain right in front of the battlefield. We assume this is where monsters and humans had their last battle and where the sealing of monster kind took place. Fun fact, once we get official approval from the Museum Association, we’ll be turning this museum into the museum of monsters and their history. Cool huh?” She smiles pleasantly at the children, who all nod in agreement. “Feel free to look around for an hour and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.”

 

The children all separated throughout the room, looking at everything with sparkles in their eyes. Papyrus, the most popular amongst the kids, is dragged around the room by a group who point out armor that suited him. Undyne is admiring the giant spears on the wall; there is a mischievous glint in her eye. Frisk is with MK looking at swords bigger than their heads in the center of the room. Another child jumps from behind the swords, scaring Frisk and MK, but all three end up laughing. Sans looked at them with a gentle smile on his face. If only the rest of society could get along with each other like these kids. “Wa ha ha…Well well, long time no see…” Gerson chuckles beside Sans, catching his attention.

 

“What?” Gerson walks to the left side of the room where hardly any kids were. It had mainly books, scrolls, maps, and a large painting that is burned and torn on the edges. He walks straight up to the painting, smiling. Sans looks back and forth between Gerson and the picture. In the picture were four humans sitting together in the grass; there was a man with black hair laying down asleep wearing an eyepatch and light armor, next to him was a (man? woman?) person wearing a cloak with the hood down and their long dark blonde hair blowing in the wind as they played a small harp happily, then a soldier with blonde scruffy hair cleaning a large sword, and lastly a woman wearing a red cloak with her hood up covering her face and leather armor, a staff leaning on her shoulder between her legs as she smiled at the rest of the group. Sans feels like he has seen this painting before. He is used to the feeling déjà vu but this was different compared to what he used to feel Underground…

 

“Oh, this painting. It was found wrapped in a tent that had caught fire. The tent must have collapsed, putting out the fire and saving the painting. But none of the books we found described the people in this painting and they were all military related. We never found out why this painting wasn’t amongst the human army...” The guide comes over, explaining and gesturing towards the display.

 

Gerson smiled sadly. “That’s ‘cause they weren’t part of the human army. They were my friends from the war. They fought along and for monster kind….though… I could have sworn that there was another one… maybe they were the ones that painted it? Wa ha ha, I must be getting old…”

 

“There were humans fighting to protect the monsters, Mister Turtle?” A human child spoke up from behind Gerson. Sans and Gerson turn around to see the children had gathered around them, curious to learn what Gerson had experienced.

 

Gerson nodded, rubbing his beard. “There were a few humans who fought with us, some were even mages, but those five were different… they could use magic like us and it coursed through them like no other mage I’d ever seen. Sometimes I forgot they were human; the only thing that was human about them were their bodies. Everything else about them were just like monsters.” He looked back at the painting sadly. “They fought with all their SOULs in the final battle; many monsters wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for them. Wa ha ha, but that isn’t a story for you little urchins.” Gerson laughed at all the pouting faces he received.

 

The guide started clapping her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Well, Mr. Gerson, we would be happy to have you help us with the accuracy of our museum in the near future. For now, why don’t we all go to the next room where we have costumes and equipment out for you all to use that are like the things you see in this room.” All the kids cheered as they followed her out of the room. Sans lingered behind, looking back at the painting.

 

Stepping closer, he noticed something in the corner. A signature. “W… D… G…?” He looked back up to the faces. The humans looked eerily familiar to him… he heard someone call for him, probably Papyrus, and gave the painting one final glance before following the others.

 

~

 

“SANS LOOK! I AM A KNIGHT OF THE TABLE THAT IS CIRCULAR!” Papyrus is posing in armor. The museum hosts medieval festivals here so they always have costumes for guests.

 

Sans smiled at his brother. “You look cool bro, no different than normal. Just now to take you out of your clothes, we will have to use a can opener.”

 

“GASP! SANS, YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!” Papyrus wrapped his arms around the armor to protect it. “WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU WEARING BROTHER?”

 

Sans was wearing a pair of puffy pants, baggy shirt, and a hat with bells on it. It was yellow on the left side and blue on the right side. “It’s a fool’s costume, cause you know I like to fool around. I’m a bit foolish.”

 

“SANS, OH MY STARS! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!” Papyrus sighed into his gloved hands.

 

Sans smiled wider. “Really? I can _bell_ -lieve it.” He flicks one of the bells on his hat.  Papyrus looked up at Sans, glaring.  “You’re smiling Paps.”

 

“I KNOW AND I HATE IT!” Papyrus shouted to the sky, causing Sans to chuckle more.

 

“Papyrus! Papyrus! Papyrus!” MK and Frisk come running up to the skeleton brothers. Frisk was in a dragon costume while MK was wearing a knight’s helmet. “Dude, there is a sword in a stone that says only the strongest can lift! You should go do it! Nyeh heh heh!” Frisk grabs ahold of Papyrus’ hand and pulls him along. Sans sits down on a bench to watch over all the kids, who were now dressed up in medieval clothing, playing with ancient weapons and tools. Many kids were trying to lift the sword from the stone. Papyrus was waiting in line, encouraging the children to do their very best.

 

Sans heard someone grumble loudly and he turned his head towards them. It was Undyne and she was holding a bow and arrow in a small shooting range. “Ugh! Why can’t I hit the center! If I was throwing a spear it would be long gone by now!” Undyne starts to summon a spear in her outreached hand.

 

“ _Hay_ ,” Sans teleported over to Undyne, placing a hand on her shoulder and motioning to the target made of hay, “I don’t think you are being a good example for the kids right now. If that is what you are _aiming_ for.” Toriel specifically asked Sans to make sure Undyne doesn’t use her magic on the field trip… again.

 

“Fine, punk… how about you try it?” Undyne thrusts the bow in Sans’ face.

 

“Huh?

 

“Come on nerd. Whenever you play video games, you always choose the archer type; this is your chance to do it in real life. Who knows, you may even be good at it.” She drops it into his hands and he stumbled to catch it. Sans feels sweat beaded down his skull. He is unsure how he is supposed to hold it.

 

“Hold it out with your non-dominant hand and pull the string with your dominant hand.” Gerson calls out from the sidelines. Sans grips it with his right hand and then grabs an arrow with his left. “Good, now place the arrow on the bow, use your right hand to help balance the arrow. Pull the arrow back to where your ears would be.” Sans follows his instructions. It’s odd; he can feel his body settling into a position that almost feels natural. He closes his right eye socket and uses the left to take aim. He takes a deep breath in and lets go of the arrow as he breathed out. Sans continued shooting the arrows, over and over, not really thinking about what he was doing. His body kept moving on its own.

 

After the last arrow was released, there was a small crowd cheering for Sans. “Wow, way to show me up, when did you learn how to do that punk?” Undyne came stomping over and slapped Sans on the back.

 

Sans fumbled to catch the bow. He looked up at the target; the arrows were going down in a straight line on the target, perfectly aligned with each other. “I didn’t, this was my first time…”

 

“What? But you look like you knew exactly what you were doing, how-”

 

“Hey guys look! Papyrus lifted the sword from the stone!” One of the kids shouted. Undyne and Sans looked over to see Papyrus lifting the sword with only one hand above his head. He then held the sword in front of him and began to have a sword fight with an invisible enemy.

 

“You taught him how to sword fight?” Sans looked to the side at Undyne.

 

Undyne shook her head. “Not really, fighting seems to just come to Papyrus real easily. He always was a fast learner.” They continued to watch Papyrus twirling the sword around and fending off his enemy. “You brothers really are something… it’s like you were both designed to be warriors.”

 

Sans didn’t know how to respond to that, he just continued to watch Papyrus who looked like he was having the time of his life. Papyrus spun around again, but instead of seeing Papyrus’ happy face, he saw the human again. His shaggy blonde hair swayed with him as he made a final thrust, then he noticed Sans staring and waved to him with the sword up in the air.

 

“THAT WAS COOL RIGHT BROTHER?” It was Papyrus’ voice, but it wasn’t Papyrus. Sans just stared at the human, eye sockets wide and unsure. Sans could feel himself hyperventilating and he shut his eyes as he looked away. “BROTHER ARE YOU ALRIGHT? ARE YOU THAT AMAZED BY MY GREATNESS?”

 

Sans opened his eyes again and saw Papyrus walking over to him. He sighed with relief and wiped away sweat from his skull. “I’m alright. I think I’m overheating in this outfit. I’ll go change; the clothes are sticking to my skin.”

 

“YOU’RE HOT? BUT SANS, WE DON’T HAVE SKIN.”

 

“Oh right… I forgot.”

 

~

 

 

Sans stood in front of the painting of the humans, back inside the museum in his own clothes again. He continued to stare at them, unsure about what he was feeling. He runs his hand against his skull, trying to think to where he had seen those humans before.

_“Sanders.”_

 

Sans froze.

_“Sanders.”_

 

He looked up to see he was standing in the middle of a battle. He spun around, watching monsters fighting, humans in full armor wielding swords, spears, and axes. _“Sanders!”_ Sans turned around towards the direction of the voice only to suddenly fall backwards. A human held up a giant sword above their head, about to swing down at him. Sans held up an arm and shut his eyes.

 

The sound of metal clanked around him, but the blow never came. He opened his eyes slowly to see a hooded figure had blocked the sword with a long staff. They stood their ground, holding the human back as the staff began to glow red. Red magic started to pool on one end, forming a blade at the end of the staff, making it look like a scythe. They pushed the sword to the side and swung their scythe at the human, slicing off their head. The hooded figure turned around; it was the woman in the painting. _“What are you doing?! Get up!”_ She grabbed at Sans’ outreached hand. He shut his eyes and she pulled him to his feet.

 

“Are you alright there, Sansy boy?” Sans opens his eyes to see that Gerson was the one holding onto his arm.

 

Sans looked around; he was back in the museum. Gerson let go of him once he saw Sans could stand on his own. “Thanks…”

 

Gerson made an acknowledging sound in his throat. He turned away from Sans and stared up at the painting. “You know, very few people actually remember them. Sir Fluffybuns and the former Queen might remember them, but most of us from the war aren’t around anymore.” Gerson stepped closer to the display. “I have been getting flashbacks of the battle. Guess the land remembers my magic. Wa ha ha.” Sans looked at Gerson; he was staring at the painting with such sadness in his eyes. “The hooded girl, she was actually a good friend of mine. I miss her.”

 

“Who were they?” Gerson turned to Sans, giving him a big smile.

 

“Wanna read about them?”

 

~

 

Sans was sitting in Gerson’s shop back in the Underground. Gerson was digging through multiple boxes for something. “I found this book during one of my digs in the higher caverns of the Underground. I always thought that area was weird; there were odd holes there. Like someone had already dug there before.” He tossed a few things behind his back. “Ah hah! Here it is! Wa ha ha. I knew I still had it.” He held up a book in the air and then turned to Sans.

 

“This is it. I’m sure this will clear up a few things for you.” Gerson smiled at him as he handed him the book.

 

“What is it?” Sans looked at the slowly degrading book. The leather cover was ripped and torn in a few places and the pages looked like they had taken some water damage.

 

“A journal by Sanders Ward. You know, the guy with the eye patch. That’s Sanders.” Gerson sat in front of Sans. “He was an interesting fellow. Still is. His brother Cadmar was just as interesting, in his own way. He was the one in the armor in the painting. I have no idea how the others found them.” Sans looked at the book; he opened it slowly and flipped through the pages gently. “You can keep it. I’ve already read it multiple times. Go on home now; I’m going to go through a few things.”

 

“Thanks, seeya around.” Sans teleported out of the shop.

 

Gerson sighed, leaning back in his chair. “See you later...Sanders…”


	2. Journal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans begins to read

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to put the entire journal in one chapter but it was getting way too long so i decided to make it two parts.
> 
> i hope you enjoy and let me know if there are any mistakes

Sans teleported back into his room. Papyrus was having a sleepover at Undyne’s with Frisk that night, so Sans had the entire night to himself.  Sans sat down at his desk, pushing aside papers and textbooks. He should really get Papyrus to clean his room for him. Sans gently laid the book down and opened it.

 

“ _‘1XXX, June 12, the war has come to our town. The village was completely burned down. I barely managed to get my brother out in time with all the supplies we needed…_

 

~

 

“Cadmar! Come on. We need to get out of here.” I walked up to my brother, who was staring down at the piles of ash and burnt wood. The monsters and the human armies had collided right outside our village and the battle had overflowed to us.

 

Cadmar pushed around some rubble. “Hey Sanders! Look at this.” Cadmar lifted up a chest plate meant for full body armor. It was covered in ashes and dust. Some of it was sprinkling into Cadmar’s blonde hair. “Maybe there is an entire set here. It looks like it will fit me.” Cadmar continued to dig, finding more pieces of armor.

 

“I don’t think we should stay here so long Caddy. We need to get moving, away from this war, where it is safe.” I pushed a few ashes and pieces of wood away. I picked up an arrow stuck in the ground. “See this? This almost went through your head. They missed this time, but if we stay here there is no guarantee that they’ll miss again. So stop scavenging and let’s go.”

 

Cadmar was now on his knees, sifting through everything. “Hey look, a short sword. Didn’t you always want one?” My brother held it up to me, dangling it in front of my face. “There might be more weapons and other stuff that we could take with us and sell.” Cadmar taunted me; his face was covered in black ashes as he wiggled his eyebrows at me.

 

I groaned and took the sword. “Fine, but we are leaving at sunset.”

 

“Yes! I’m going to find a full suit of armor and a grand sword of my own.” Cadmar began running around looking for more armor and weapons. I sat down and watched over him. He is only sixteen, yet he had the strength to lift armor with one hand and is already taller than me even though I’m four years older than him. I watched my brother, smiling at everything he found, despite the fact that what he is digging through is the remains of our village.

 

Three winters ago, our mother was killed by someone; we still don’t know who, probably a bandit. The area has been full of them since the war started. That night I promised that I would keep my little brother safe for as long as I live. I broke the arrow in half and looked over to Cadmar building a pretty huge pile of supplies. “Do you really think you can carry all that?”

 

“Yes, we can sell everything we don’t keep for some gold coins then buy a new home.” Cadmar wiped his forehead, spreading more ash on his face. “Plus, it will be great strength training for when I become a knight.” He beat on his chest.

 

“Alright, if you say so Caddy.” I watched over Cadmar silently as he continued to gather more things till the sun set. We gathered everything together, strapping everything to our backs and headed north to where the nearest village is. The extra equipment had slowed us down and we ended up having to camp out here in the woods. Usually we would be there by now, but we were only halfway. Cadmar passed out as soon as we set camp and had eaten some bread. He fell asleep holding the long sword he found earlier. I looked at his sleeping face; he was beginning to grow a few hairs on his chin, signs of him becoming a man but he still had such a boyish look about him. I watched the stars, looking for some comfort in them before falling asleep.

 

~

 

We woke up as soon as the sun rose. “San! It’s morning, we need to get moving.” He pushed me around.

 

“I’m up, I’m up Caddy.” I opened my eyes to see my brother still covered in black ashes. “Pfft, hah hah, it looks like you are an old man!” All the ash had gathered in the creases of his skin as he slept, making it look like he had wrinkles and his entire chin was covered like he needed to shave. I started rolling around in the dirt, laughing uncontrollably.

 

“Sanders! This is not the time; we can’t go into town with me looking like this!” Cadmar whined next to me.

 

“Alright, alright. There is a stream nearby. We’ll clean all the stuff we got to. Don’t want to sell stuff covered in ashes.” I stood up and stretched. “Let’s get everything together.” We packed up everything and headed east where a large stream could be found. We washed all the equipment and weapons. Oddly enough, it was enjoyable. I looked up to the trees, seeing the sun seep through the leaves. A small breeze moved the branches so I was able to get glimpses of the blue sky. It really was a beautiful day out.

 

I kept taking deep breaths, enjoying the moment of peace, something we haven’t had for the longest time. The war has been getting worse lately. Monsters have been holding their own against the humans, despite the magnitude of the human military. The last I heard, they were trying to force the monster forces south. That means we should try to go north to avoid any more crossfire from them. I was lost in thought of planning our next move when Cadmar came into my view. “I finished cleaning everything.” He smiled at me with his face still covered in ashes.

 

“Pfft, you forgot about yourself. Here, sit down.” Cadmar sat down on a rock by the river as I put a rag in the cool water. I wiped his face clean. There seems to be more hair popping out of his chin. “Look at you, my kid brother is becoming a man. Seems like yesterday you were following me around, crying and falling everywhere with snot under your nose.” I tugged at one of the hairs and then ruffled his scruffy blonde hair. I always liked his hair; it was just like Mom’s.

 

Unlike mine; I have my good for nothing father’s black hair. My father was a Mage. Before Cadmar was born, my father was recruited by the King. He decided to serve the King and leave his family behind. Then Cadmar’s father came. He was a soldier, he taught me and Cadmar how to fight, make weapons, and repair armor. He even taught us a thing or two about magic, nothing grand that would be made worthy but useful in battle. But just like most soldiers, he died in battle.

 

“Stop it Sanders, I’m taller than you now. You can’t treat me like a child anymore.” Cadmar crossed his arms, huffing at me.

 

I shrugged at him. I can’t help it. He is just too much fun to tease. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll try to stop that. But you will always be my kid brother.” I wrapped my arm around his neck, holding him in a headlock as a brotherly way of hugging.

 

“Ugh Sanders! Stop choking me!” He yelled, trying to get out of my hold. He never could and always just gave up after a while. I was laughing hysterically as he floundered around, till I heard something move. I instantly let go of my brother and then pulled him away from the river to behind a bush.

 

I held up a finger to my lips when Cadmar opened his mouth to ask what was happening. I got down on the ground and crawled under the bush on my stomach. From the other side of the stream, a large bear came walking out from behind one of the bushes. There have been more bear attacks lately in this area. It is a good thing I heard it coming. That stream only goes up to my mid-calves; the bear could easily charge across towards us. We watched in silence as the bear drank from the stream and then turned around to head back into the forest.

 

“Hey Cadmar, did you ever find a full set of armor that fits you?” I looked over to Cadmar; he nodded. “Good, you should start wearing it. And have that sword on hand from now on.”

 

~

 

After our encounter with the bear, we decided it would be best to be on guard in case it returns. “I almost hope it returns.”

 

“Huh?” I looked back at Cadmar; in that suit of armor, he looks a lot like an actual knight. “Why would you want the bear to come back?” I adjusted my pack; all the metal inside clanked together.

 

“We could kill it. Sell the fur, sell some of the meat, and turn some into jerky for ourselves. We’ll be traveling for a while right? And you know how to do all that.” It’s true that I do, I often went on hunts with the other village men and they taught me how to properly prepare the carcass.

 

I thought about it for a moment. Bear skin does go for a lot, but not the meat. It is only popular during the winter when there is a lack of food and it is still summer. I got the idea of seasoning it and then selling it as deer meat; if you season it enough, no one can to tell it is bear. “Fine, if we find another bear AND it attacks us, then we’ll do that. But if it doesn’t attack us and we have a chance to walk by it without having to fight, we are doing that first. I don’t want to risk anything before we get to town safely.”

 

“Yes brother.” Caddy sounded a bit disappointed about that. He is always quick to fight, but he doesn’t really realize that we would be killing a living creature. To be honest, that is why I don’t want him to go off to become a knight on his own. If I had the same body as him and his strength, I would. But I am not meant for battle. We continued on and made it to town by midday. We managed to find a smith’s shop and sold all the equipment to him.

 

The smith looked at me and my brother. “Are you both in the army?” I shook my head. “He better not wear that then. People have been getting in trouble for taking from the battlefields. If he gets caught, they either force you two to join or…” He didn’t finish the sentence; he didn’t have to.

 

“Caddy… you are going to have to take that off…” I turned to my brother.

 

He stuck out his lower lip and pouted. “But why?”

 

“Because the King will brand that as stealing. You can’t become a knight when you are older if you go to jail for stealing, now can you?” I used my older brother voice on him. He puffs out his cheeks, but starts to loosen the straps of the armor. “I promise I’ll make you one next time, so that way no one can take it away from you, alright?”

 

“Okay…” he handed over the chest piece and continued to take off the pants.

 

“You know how to make armor?” The smith questioned me. I explained to him that my second father had taught me before he died and that I had been making and repairing farming tools in our village. I had to explain to him that our village was burned down two nights ago and we were hoping to get enough money to help us get back on our feet. “Hmm, how about this? If you help me repair and make a few orders for a couple days, I’ll let you two stay here with the misses and I and you can use my shop after I close up to make yourselves armor. It’s dangerous out there nowadays. Run away knights, bandits, and of course, monsters.”

 

This was too good to be true. I was suspicious of this man who just opened his home to two boys that sold him armor from the remains of a village. “Why are you helping us?”

 

He gave us a tired smile. “I had a son. He was…” he motioned me to come closer and whispered in my ear, “…a monster supporter.” I pulled back, shocked. There were humans that were fighting with the monsters, not many but enough for people in secluded villages to know about. He laughed at my reaction. “To be honest, I’m pretty neutral on the topic. But my son was very open about his displeasure in how monsters were being treated. He left to go fight for them, but he was caught. He told a friend he shouldn’t have about him going off. He didn’t have much of a fighting chance, since he didn’t bring his armor or sword. You two are going off into this world without anything to protect yourselves with; I’d feel bad for letting you boys out there only to face death when I could have helped you.”

 

I didn’t see anything misleading in his eyes, only true sadness from the loss of his son and need to protect like any father. I looked at my brother; he was now in only his farming clothes, vulnerable to attacks. “Is food included in that deal?” He smiled at us and patted us both on the head.

 

“Sure is. Names Tyne.”

 

~

 

1XXX, July 16

We’ve been staying with Tyne and his wife, Mary, for a month now. I have been working nonstop on armor for Cadmar. I also made myself some light armor made of thick leather and metal plates that protected my stomach, chest and back. What has been interesting is that Tyne used to be a soldier a long time ago, till he got hurt. He has been giving Cadmar lessons on his swordsmanship. Even I can see that he has improved greatly. I even feel stronger from working in the shop constantly. Tyne has complimented my skills, admiring the weapons I have made and says I have the art of smithing down. He has even let me man his shop by myself. When the shop was slow, I worked on my brother’s armor and sword.

 

What Tyne didn’t know was that I knew how to make armor with magical properties inside it. My brother has tried to embed his magic in metal for me before, but he was never successful. His magic just doesn’t go into it as naturally as mine does. Magic for us isn’t that common belief of chanting spells and potions, but is an extension of us. Cadmar uses his magic to make himself stronger, his armor tougher, and his sword lighter and sharper. I use my magic to make my body move faster to dodge and to make my short sword longer without adding any weight. It’s sad to say, but using a normal sized sword for too long tires me out fast while my little brother prefers the biggest and heaviest sword.

 

“Hey Sanders.” Tyne called out to me.

 

I turned around to him. “Hay is for horses.” Tyne looked annoyed at me before throwing a cloth at my face.

 

“Stop with the jokes and come inside for lunch.” He smirked at me and turned around to go back inside the house. I chuckled and followed him. It has been nice staying with this couple. I almost forgot what it was like to live with other people other than my little brother. I almost don’t want to leave, but the military is close by, which means that this town could be burned down to the ground like our village was. I already spoke to Cadmar about this and we agreed to leave as soon as I finish our armor and swords. But Cadmar wants to hunt the couple fresh game for the final night we are there. Mary has been very kind to us. She has been babying Cadmar and he was eating it up. He must miss having a mother around as much as she missed her son. It didn’t take much convincing to go hunting for a final gift for her.

 

This night is the night I will finish the armor, so I asked for Cadmar to stay up with me so I can make sure it all fits him correctly. I helped him strap everything into place; I even made him a sheath for his sword to be strapped behind his back. “So how does it feel?” Cadmar rolled his shoulders and got into a fighting stance, holding an imaginary sword. He swung around in place, testing out the movements of the armor.

 

“I like it. It’s better than the military one from before.” Cadmar was sparkling with joy. I am glad that I finally had the material and tools to make him proper armor. I was going to wait till we were leaving to give him the new sword but I couldn’t help myself. I hardly ever got to spoil him. I brought out the sword for him; it took both my arms to lift it. “Is that… for me?” I nodded as he took it from me with one hand. “It’s heavier than normal.”

 

I chuckled at him. “Yeah, but it’s like one of those special swords that Pa made. Test it out.” Caddy looked at me with pure shock; I tried to hold back my laughter even more.

 

“You did it? Really?” He held up the sword to his face and sent magic into it. An orange aura could vaguely be seen around it and he was carrying it much easier. “It really is … wait, is the armor-?”

 

I gave him a big smile. “Of course, I made this all especially for my baby brother. Don’t even think for a second I wouldn’t make the best armor and sword ever.”

 

“This is so cool.” Cadmar swung the sword around, getting used to its weight and movement. But then his smile dropped. “Does that mean we are leaving?”

 

I nodded. “Yes, we’ll be here only one more day and then we’re heading north. We’ll go hunting tomorrow, early in the morning. I already told Tyne and Mary that we were going hunting. I didn’t tell them why though or that we were leaving for good soon.” I really didn’t, but I have a feeling that they could tell that we were going to be leaving. It would be strange to me for them to take us in at this age. We need to be getting on our feet as adults, not looking for new parents. Plus, I want to get Cadmar as far away from the battlefield as possible.

 

“Alright…” Cadmar frowned, I know he likes it here, but this area isn’t safe.

 

I pat my brother on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. We can always come back and visit them. You can even write them letters to let them know how we’re doing.” That seemed to cheer him up a bit. “Now go to bed, we’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow.” He nodded and muttered a goodnight before leaving the shop. I cleaned everything for Tyne tomorrow and then went to bed myself. I know I will miss them just as much as Cadmar will, but I have to be strong for us both.

 

~

 

We got up early this morning, before anyone else woke up. We thought the early morning would give us a better chance of catching a few hares, birds, maybe even a deer, but we still had nothing. We left traps everywhere, but nothing was catching. “Arghhhh! Was hunting always this difficult brother?” Cadmar was getting impatient and antsy with the lack of action.

 

“This is just how it goes sometimes. We just have to be patient. Come on, let’s go check the other traps.” Cadmar groaned every time the trap came up empty. I kept having to remind him that it takes time for animals to be caught in the snare and it will happen soon. But I was starting to have some doubts too. Maybe the animals had left this area because of the recent battle. Loud sounds and fire does scare away animals. We were about to just go back to the shop when we heard growling.

 

There was another small roar coming from the other side of the thicket of trees. I motioned for Cadmar to follow close behind me as we snuck over to the sound. As I thought, it was a bear, but I didn’t expect to see soldiers trying to fight it off. “Morons…” They were all tired from battle and were swinging at the bear halfheartedly. In my mind, I thought about letting the bear have them. The bear will be busy with them and not bother us as we continued to hunt.

 

“Shouldn’t we help them?” Cadmar peeked around a tree.

 

“Why? They are probably the same ones that let our village burn down. Besides, I’d rather we get out safely without having to put ourselves in any danger that we don’t need to be.” I try to walk away but Cadmar grabbed my arm, pulling me back. “What? It’s a bear. We aren’t taking on a bear with just us two being the only ones capable of fighting it off.”

 

Cadmar gave me a pleading look. “But we have your special armor now, and I have my new sword. We can save them, I know we can.” A man yelled as he was pushed down by the bear, falling onto his back. The look of fear in that man’s face gave me that final push.

 

“Fine.” I bent down and grabbed a few rocks. “Attack for the throat on my signal.” I stepped out from behind the trees. The bear bent down onto all four paws, bearing its teeth. Before it could finish off one of the men, I threw a rock its head. “Hey, bear! Over here!” I yelled and waved my arms at it as it slowly stood up and looked at me. I threw another rock, hitting it directly in the snout. “Come on you crappy bear, come get me.” I threw another rock and that triggered the bear to charge.

 

It stood before me and tried to swipe at me. I ducked down and stepped to the side as it tried to chomp at me. It rose onto its hind legs and swung at me again. I ducked down all the way to the ground and rolled forward to slice at its knees. “Now!” I rolled out of the way as the bear fell forward from the wounds I’d inflicted and Cadmar swung his sword upwards at an angle, cutting the head clean off. The body fell to the ground, blood beginning to pour into the dirt and the only thing that could be heard was our panting.

 

Cadmar stepped out from behind the trees and helped me stand. “That was great brother. Your dodging skills always amaze me.”

 

“No kidding, I thought he was a goner for sure.” One of the soldiers cheered.

 

“I thought I was a goner.” The one that had been about to be mauled by the bear yelled, still lying on the ground. He looked like he was going to throw up.

 

Cadmar and I stood there awkwardly as they came around us. “You two boys are excellent fighters.” They all praised us, complementing our skills and abilities they saw earlier. “Where did you get this armor and sword? It’s amazing.”

 

I motioned for my brother not to say a word, but… “My brother made them both.” He didn’t catch it.

 

“Wow, we could really use a skilled blacksmith like you, how about you two join the cause?” One patted me on the back so hard I fell forward slightly.

 

I stood up straighter and hardened my face. “No.”

 

“No? Why? Are you one of those monster sympathizers?” They all started to glare at us and picked up their weapons.

 

I looked to my brother. “Go get the bear.” He nodded and went to hoist the bear over his back. Someone tried to grab Cadmar but I blocked their way. “No, we aren’t monster sympathizers. To be honest, we just don’t like the war. It burned down our village and killed many innocent people over some silly insecurity the King has.”

 

“Why you-”

 

“Ready to go brother.” Cadmar called from behind with the bear on his back like it was nothing. The soldiers all gasped at his strength. I knew no one would try anything as soon as they saw how strong my brother was.

 

I smirked at them and walked to my brother’s side. “Let’s go Caddy.” We turned around and walked into the forest, leaving the soldiers behind. I made sure we took a path that people who don’t know the area wouldn’t be able to follow.

 

We didn’t talk much all the way back to town. We dropped off the bear in the back of the shop and entered the house.  “We’re back!” Cadmar cheered out for Mary, but no one was inside the kitchen. “Mary?” We opened the door to the shop area and there was Mary on the floor. The shop was being destroyed by two men in familiar suits of armor.

 

“Hey! What are you doing?” I yelled at them. I ran into the shop and punched one of them in the face, sending him backwards into the wall. The other tried to attack me from behind, but Cadmar grabbed him by his extended arm and lifted him up into the air.

 

“Please do not attack my brother.” Despite him saying please, his tone was not polite at all. We dragged the men out of the shop and threw them out the door. Outside there were more soldiers and there was Tyne on his knees, covered in blood and bruises. A soldier with a captain’s emblem on his chest stood in front of Tyne and raised his sword up in the air.

 

Before I could even second guess myself, I charged out there with my short blade. The sound of metal clashing together filled the air as I blocked what would have been the final blow on Tyne. “What are you thinking boy? Get out of the way. This man is a traitor to the King and all humankind!”

 

“On what grounds!?” I shouted back.

 

“For stealing and selling military property. Weapons and armor that were supposed to be gathered by us had gone missing, and then we walk by to see this traitor with it sitting in his shop!” He motioned behind him, the pile of equipment that we brought him all sat in a cart.

 

Tyne cleared his throat and spat blood out to the side. “I keep telling you, it wasn’t for sale. I was repairing them for the military. Once you came through town I was going to give it all to you. But then your men started destroying my shop, hit my wife, and started accusing me of things I didn’t do.”

 

“Liar! Your son went to fight with the monsters! You are a traitor!” Someone from the gathering crowd shouted at him, a rock was thrown but Cadmar came out and blocked it with his sword.

 

I pushed the soldier’s sword away. “He isn’t! We are the ones that took the equipment! We thought we could sell it so we could afford a home after our village was burned down! But Tyne and his wife took us in instead of turning us in for stealing.” The crowd started to whisper amongst themselves. “He told us that it all belonged to the military and that he will return it for us, in exchange that we help out in his shop. He is not a traitor! He is a kind man, more than I can say for the royal knights who attack innocent people, judging them as villains before they’ve found any proof!” The captain did not look pleased with me as everyone started to rally against them, agreeing with what I stated.

 

A soldier came up behind him and motioned him to lean in. The captain narrowed his eyes on us. “You two, what are your names? My men tell me that you saved a group of them earlier today in the forest.”

 

I stood up straight, putting away my sword. “I am Sanders Ward and this is my brother Cadmar Ward.” I then dropped to my knees and bowed down in front of them. “I am sorry for the misunderstanding, please let Tyne live. Do not kill him for my wrongdoings, I beg you!” I pressed my forehead to the dirt as I begged.

 

“Sanders…” Tyne whispered from behind.

 

I heard someone move beside me. “I beg of you as well. It was my idea to take everything in the first place.” Cadmar bowed alongside me.

 

“I should really kill all three of you and burn this building to the ground!” The captain yelled above us. The crowd didn’t agree with him, they all began to shout at him. People who had been condemning Tyne to death were now all shouting for the knight to spare our lives. “Enough!” He shouted and everyone became silent. “You two, raise your heads.” We did as we were told. “I will let you live today, but next time I see you I can’t promise I will be so lenient.” I could tell that he did not like this one bit, and wanted to kill us, but that wouldn’t look good on the knights. He motioned for his men to move out and they left with their equipment in the back of their cart. The captain threw us one last glare before he followed behind his men.

 

Cadmar and I then turned to Tyne and helped him stand. We took him inside the shop. “You two are fools; you should have let them kill me. They won’t let this go.”

 

“But it wasn’t right. You didn’t deserve to die for something like that.” Cadmar handed him a cloth to wipe away his blood.

 

Tyne took it and chuckled. “Now they are going to be after you, either to get you to join them or die. That’s how the military works nowadays.”

 

Cadmar’s eyes dropped. “They aren’t what I expected of knights… I don’t really want to be one anymore.” I could see Cadmar’s dream crumble before him.

 

Before I could even say anything, Tyne patted him on the shoulder. “No, Cadmar, we need men like you to be knights. Those men, I don’t see them as real knights, they are just boys playing pretend. You have the spirit and morals that we need in a knight. Don’t give up because of them, strive to change people’s hearts and the way people see them.”

 

I smiled back at them; Tyne knows exactly what to say. But he is right; we are going to have to leave earlier than expected. I turned around to pick up Mary and take her inside while Cadmar helped clean Tyne up.

 

~

 

I had all our equipment and supplies packed away in our packs inside the kitchen. I finished skinning the bear and turned its meat into jerky. By the time I finished it was well into the night and Mary was up with me, helping me finish packing.  Cadmar was catching some shut-eye before we left. I tried to as well but I felt myself worrying too much to relax. Mary had fallen asleep at the table, waiting for me to be done tearing up the leathery meat. “You don’t have to do it all.” Tyne came inside from the shop and brought a blanket over to his sleeping wife.

 

“I can’t sleep, it gives me something to do till midnight.” I shoved more jerky into our bags. “I think we’ll have enough till we make it to the next town.” Tyne nodded in agreement.

 

“So, how long have you two been practicing magic?” I almost dropped my bag on the ground. “Don’t try to deny it. I saw you do it to your sword when you blocked that blow. I’m sure that captain noticed it too. Magic is forbidden for civilians to use, only knights and mages that serve the King are allowed to use those tactics.” He waited for me to answer him, but I just avoided eye contact. “Fine, don’t tell me. Less I know the better, but you boys sure are interesting.”

 

I gave him a strained smile. “I should wake up Cadmar.”

 

“Sanders,” Tyne called out to me as I took a step up the stairs, “please, be careful out there and live a long life. I think of you two as my sons. Even though it has been a short time, you two have helped us so much. Getting over our son’s death and having someone to love again has really brought us joy. I want you boys to continue on, live and fight for the ones you love. And promise that you won’t forget us.”

 

I turned to him, holding back tears. “That is impossible; because there is no way we’ll ever be able to forget you guys.” To save face, I ran upstairs to the room Cadmar and I shared. Before waking up Cadmar, I had to write this all down so I wouldn’t forget this conversation.

 

~

 

1XXX, August 9

I haven’t written for a while, mainly because the last night we were at Tyne and Mary’s ended in a blood bath. Tyne was right; they didn’t like how we made them look or turned down their offer to join. What we didn’t expect was them coming back that night as we were about to leave. Mary had opened the door for us, but as soon as she opened it an arrow hit her directly in the chest. Tyne caught her and another arrow was shot into the door. There was clattering from the back; soldiers had stormed the shop. Tyne told us to run, so we did. We ran as far as we could, as fast as we could. We made it up to the top of a hill and looked back to where Tyne’s house was. It was entirely engulfed in flames. The captain made good on his threat. There is no doubt in my mind that Tyne and Mary are both dead.

 

We had no time to grieve for our friends. We could hear men galloping on horse coming towards us. “Run to the woods!” I yelled to Cadmar. We tried our best to hide from them but the horses gave them an advantage.

 

“There they are!” Someone showed up in front of us on their horse, brandishing their sword. He aimed for Cadmar; I quickly pushed him out of the way but my dodging skills weren’t able to save myself. The sword slashed down on the left side of my face. I can no longer see with my left eye and am wearing an eyepatch as my eye recovers. I was sure that I failed everyone who trusted me to keep me and Cadmar alive. Before I could see what happened, I blacked out.

 

I later woke up in a pile of hay.  I tried to sit up but someone stopped me. “No, don’t get up yet. You need to rest. Your body is still in shock.” My body was sore and my face was in a great amount of pain; that is when I noticed that I could only see black through my left eye. I reached up to feel bandages. “I tried my best to heal it, but I only could fix the appearance. There was too much damage to the eye.”

 

“What happened? Where am I? Where is my brother? Who are you?” I tried to sit up, in complete panic. I thought that he had died while I survived.

 

“It’s okay. You are safe and your brother is too. Cadmar is sleeping in the next stall. We are hiding inside a barn. Sorry, we didn’t have many options at the time since you were bleeding so much.” Hands were holding onto my shoulders, pushing me to lie down. I finally could see the person as they backed away. They were wearing a long blue cloak, long dark blonde hair trailing down to their waist, and a beautiful face with no identifying features that would tell if they were a man or woman. “Hello, I am Avon Song. I am a traveling healer.” They greeted me with an elegant voice that almost sounded like singing. I have never met someone like Avon; they are interesting to say the least. Still no idea if they are a man or a woman. I asked once and they just responded that they were a person.

 

I was really confused to what was happening. “How did you find us?”

 

Avon was about to explain when a head suddenly came into my view. “Ah, you are awake! Marvelous!” Above me was a net full of more hay where a man seemed to be laying inside. He had poked his head through the hay and the net at the sound of our voices. A hand then shot out and waited in front of my face for a handshake. “Hello, I am Wilhelm Daxton Galway, call me Wil or Galway, just not Daxton because that is my father’s name and I am not my father. That would be odd though, wouldn’t it?” Wil tends to speak fast; I had a hard time keeping up with him at first and following his odd train of thought. I took his hand hesitantly while he nearly made my arm fall off from how hard he shook it. “I am on a quest for knowledge, you see. I am traveling around to learn anything and everything that interests me and record my findings in my journals. You look like a man who can work with your hands, I noticed the callouses on your hands. What are you by trade? Farmer? Hunter? Woodsmen? Carpenter? Merchant? Smith?”

 

“Galway, get down already and talk to him like a normal person.” Avon barely has any patience for Wil’s personality I noticed. Maybe it’s because they have been traveling together so long.

 

Wil turned to them glaring. “Says the one who is neither female nor male.” Avon just smiled at him and then grabbed hay on both sides of his head. “You wouldn’t.” They pulled out large clumps of hay and Wil came falling out, head first. “OW! That hurt Avon!”

 

They turned away from him, acting innocent with their hands behind their back. “Hmm? Did you say something? Tra la la...”

 

“Don’t you try to sing your way out of this one.” Wil pointed at them.

 

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I need to tend to my patient now.” They came closer to me and started to take off the bandage. Wil ended up just mumbling about how he could have died. Avon ignored him and focused on me. They checked the stitches on my forehead and eyelid. “You are in far better shape than before, but I won’t know for sure if it will be able to see for another few days. I’ll do a bit of more healing before I wrap it back up. It should help with the pain too.” They placed their hand on my left eye. Out of the corner of my right eye, I could see a hint of something glowing on my face. It stopped within seconds and they pulled away. A majority of the pain had subsided.

 

“My face feels much better. Thank you… Was that magic?” Avon smiled at me as I tried to touch my face.

 

They slapped my hand away and started wrapping my head, covering the left side of my face. “Yes, I was a healer in my village till magic became outlawed. Now I just wander around the countryside, healing those in need.”

 

They finished caring for me and then pulled a blanket over my body. I smiled at them gratefully. “I guess we were lucky to have run into you when we did. Thanks for saving us… but how did you get us away from the soldiers?”

 

Avon and Wil blinked at me for a few moments and then laughed. “Oh, we didn’t do anything. Our third party member had stopped them and brought you two to us. After that we found a barn for cover so I could treat you.”

 

“Ah, where is he? I would like to thank him. He must be strong to take on all those knights and get us back here safely.” Avon just smirked at me and turned off the lantern; I didn’t know why till the next day.

 

Cadmar woke me up, crying with joy that I was alright and told me how happy he was that I was alive. “Oh and this is the person who saved us!” Cadmar motioned behind him. I was expecting this big strong man with a full beard; turns out my hero was this little girl in a red hooded cloak. She’s shorter than me, has a small frame, and always keeps her face concealed under her hood. The only thing that could be seen was the lower part of her head. “She is my hero! She was amazing! I barely saw anything but before I knew it, all the soldiers were on the ground and we were running away!”

 

She gave Cadmar a small smile as he bounced around her, recounting her heroic acts. I was so in shock that a girl was capable of fighting that I barely remembered to thank her. “I um… thank you for saving my brother and me. You have my gratitude.” I bowed to her and when I looked up, she gave me a short nod.

 

Wil crawled out from the hay above me, yawning and stretching. “Morning my fellow travelers! Are we ready to start heading off?” The girl gave a short nod at Wil. That’s all she ever does, nod.

 

Avon came into view of my right eye, startling me slightly since I didn’t know that they were there. I’m going to have to get used to the fact that my entire left side is now a blind spot for me. “Ah, just one thing.” Avon came over to me, handing me a bag. “This is full of medicine to help with your eye. Sorry I can’t stay to help with your treatment but we really need to be on our way.”

 

All three of them started hoisting their packs onto their backs. I noticed that the hooded girl was wearing similar armor to my own. Wil pushed open the barn door and checked to see if the coast was clear. I could tell that the sun was barely rising. Wil turned around and waved. “It was delightful meeting you, sorry we couldn’t chat some more, exchange some information. We should really start heading out before the knights come out, same goes for you two.”

 

The hooded girl just marched on out, without looking back and Avon waved at us with a kind smile before following the other two. “Wait!” Cadmar yelled out for them. “Where are you three heading?”

 

“North, there is a boat that we need to catch.” Avon answered; the other two nodded in agreement.

 

From the look on Cadmar’s face, I knew what he was going to ask. “Is it alright if we travel with you?” They all blinked at us blankly. “I mean, Sanders says we need to head up north too. And with his eye being injured like that, I don’t know how to help or where we are going; we could really use Avon’s help. And we can maybe repay you on the way. Sanders is actually really good at hunting and a skilled blacksmith. I’m really strong so I can lift and carry heavy things for you and I’m good with my sword.”

 

The three of them came together in a circle and started whispering. I was skeptical that they would let us come along with them. Cadmar made a good point about my eye. Cadmar and I were in no sense healers, nor had any idea how to treat a wound like this. I doubt we would make it far without another pair of eyes to watch our vulnerable backs. The longer they took, the less hope I had for them to help us, till Avon turned around. “Get your things together, and quickly.”

 

Cadmar squealed with excitement. “You mean it?”

 

“Yeah, Red here had a pretty convincing argument.” Wil patted the hooded girl on the head. I have a feeling that she didn’t say anything, but I didn’t call him out on it. I hurried to stand, feeling slightly dizzy; I took a few shaky steps till I got used to not being able to see on my left side.

 

Cadmar put on his bag and then took mine as well. “Ready! Let’s go!” And that is how we started traveling in a group of five. I tried talking to the hooded girl, but she never talks, just nods. It’s awkward. I have yet to see her without her red cloak on or her hood down. Same goes for this staff she carries around. She even sleeps with the damn thing. For the last few weeks, all five of us have been travelling together, hiding from the soldiers and waiting for my wounds to heal. At night we would slowly travel north to the next town. Today we managed to find an inn that would take us all in.

 

We all gathered in the eating hall, feasting on a warm cooked meal. Cadmar and Wil were having a drinking contest together, while I and the hooded girl sat together. I realized that I never learned her real name. Wil calls her Red while Avon constantly comes up with pet names for her. I will never call her darling or honey, and Red just sounds weird to me.

 

“Here, this is my own specially brewed tea that should help with your wounds.” Avon brought two cups and placed them in front of us.

 

“Wounds? Did you get hurt?” I turned to the girl and she only nodded. “Was it from when you saved us?” She nodded again. I’m slightly getting tired of this not speaking thing going on here.

 

Avon chuckled and then brought out a small harp. “Well drink up, I am going to go play a little. Tra la la.” Avon skipped away, humming. Avon had this habit of singing randomly. The room became quiet as Avon started to play in front of the room. The atmosphere became much more relaxed.

 

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sensation. This has been the most relaxed I have been since… Tyne and Mary. My mood drastically dropped, remembering their deaths and the almost deaths of me and my brother. I turned to the hooded girl. She was smiling at Avon. It has been bugging me this entire time. How can she see through that hood covering half of her face? And how did she, this little girl, save us from a bunch of soldiers? Cadmar said that it was too dark for him to see, before he could even register what was happening, all the men were already on the ground. “Could I ask you something?” She turned to me and nodded. “What is your name?”

 

Her smile dropped and she took her first drink of her tea. I clutched onto my cup so tight I thought I was going to break it, and then I heard her voice for the first time. “Minty.”

 

“You… you can talk…” I almost dropped my cup in shock. “And your name is Minty?”

 

She tilted her head to the side; I thought I almost saw her hair inside her hood. “Of course… I just don’t speak unless I need to.”

 

“Yeah, of course, you spoke to the others before…” I cleared my throat. “Can I ask you another question?” She nodded. “How and why did you save us?”

 

“Why did you save that blacksmith in the previous town?”

 

 I blinked at her a few times. “You were there?” She nodded.

 

She took another sip of her tea. “That was brave of you to stand up against the knights like that.”

 

“It’s more like I couldn’t let them kill him; he didn’t deserve it … but look where that got us.” I motioned to my eye, still bandaged. “They came back and killed them anyways, and then tried to go after us. We tried to do the right thing and it just ended up with more death.”

 

She lowered her head. “But you did change their minds, if only for just a moment. I’m sure the village will rethink their views of the knights now. Maybe they will start protecting their own like they should have done in the beginning.” She took a sip from the drink.

 

“I’m not sure… the knights serve the King. We all have to follow the King’s law and because of that they think they can do anything they want if it means they are ‘enforcing’ the King’s word. The people are just regular townsfolk that don’t know what to do… I’m sure they are more afraid now that the knights killed Tyne and Mary and burned down their shop.” I sigh and reach into my pocket for a comb to pull my hair back. One good thing about not being able to see in my left eye is my bangs that fall in front of my face don’t bug me as much anymore. “They might be even more afraid of the soldiers now.”

 

“You never know, someone might stand up to them. You only need one person to set something in motion.” She whispered. From her tone and the way she leaned into the table, I get a feeling that she has had a hard life.

 

“So you saved us because you saw me saving Tyne from before? No offense, but how did someone like you,” I motioned to her small body, “save us from a bunch of soldiers?”

 

She smiled at me as she tapped her staff lying on the table. “Same way you were able to deflect the captain’s sword, despite your physique. No offense.” I admit, I deserved that.

 

“So you can fight? Like actually really fight? Despite being a-” Her smile dropped and she rested her chin on a closed fist and her other hand was drumming her fingers against the table. I swallow the words I was going to say. “That staff isn’t for show, got it.”

 

She nods, straightening up again and holding her drink up to her mouth. “Yes, I fight with my staff and…” she whispered lowly into her cup, “magic.”

 

“What? You fight with magic too?” I leaned in closer to her, whispering. If anyone caught us talking about using magic and not being a soldier for the King, we would be hanged.

 

She chuckled at me. “I wouldn’t say ‘too’, since I use it better than you.”

 

“What makes you say that? You haven’t seen me in battle before.”

 

She sips on her tea. “There are a lot of things that I haven’t seen, but know.”

 

I was about to ask her to explain when the table to our left, near the fireplace, started singing loudly. Their arms were around each other and they were swaying, their tankards in the air, spilling their drinks. The men became too rowdy and ended up falling back. A large metal tankard came flying towards us, straight for Minty. The hooded girl didn’t make any move to block the tankard. My body reacted when she continued to drink. With my left hand, I used my still sheathed sword to block it out of the way. The sound of metal being hit caused Minty to jump and the room went silent.

 

“Sorry about that. Please continue.” I gave them a smile and a slight wave. The room was quiet still but soon people began to talk again.

 

“What happened?” Minty spoke up. My jaw dropped.

 

“What do you mean what happened? A metal tankard was about to hit you in the head and you didn’t even bother to move. If I hadn’t reacted as fast as I did, it would have knocked you out. Why didn’t you move?”

 

She bit her lower lip and turned her head to the side. “Oh… I didn’t see it.”

 

“But you were looking right at it. Was it your hood?”

 

She shook her head. “It wouldn’t matter. I still wouldn’t see it.”

 

I sighed and became frustrated with her. “The only way that anyone wouldn’t see it is if you were blind.” She stayed quiet, facing me, and I started to feel awkward. “Which you aren’t?”

 

She just gave me a smile as she stood up from her seat and came to my side of the table. “And if I am?”

 

“Then how…”

 

She leaned forward, her face coming close to mine. I could see her small button nose, her slightly flushed cheeks, and… scars that were made by blades. There were multiple scars on her face. They had faded enough for them not to be noticeable from afar. I assumed there were more higher beneath the hood. Her scars must be the reason why she held her hood low all the time. “Magic…” She whispered and a light glow came from behind her hood, where her eyes should be. She stood back up and picked up her staff. “Good night Sanders…”

 

I watched as she walked to the back and Avon came to her side. Avon looked back at me. “Drink that tea mister, doctor’s orders. I’ll take care of my buttercup here and I’ll leave those two in your care.” They pointed to the front and I turned to see my brother and Wil singing with the men who had previously fallen over. Wil looked fine, but my brother was completely red in the face. I turned back to yell at Avon for letting my baby brother get drunk, but they were already gone.

 

I laughed to myself, shaking my head as I finally brought the cup to my lips. It was sweet like honey, creamy from the milk, and… “Minty?” I laughed even more. I’m pretty sure Minty gave me a fake name now… I plan to interrogate her more about her real name and her magical abilities. But that will all have to wait till the morning. We are going to have to hurry after dawn; the knights come checking the inns for anyone wanted by the government. Hopefully my brother and Wil will be okay to awaken by then.


End file.
